Water-related Sustainable Development Goals

Water is inextricably linked to the development of all nations. But, unsustainable development is placing pressure on water resources; by 2030, global demand for water is expected to increase by 50%. Meanwhile, the demand from agriculture (which currently consumes around 70% of global water usage) is expected to have increased by 70% in 2050.

SDG 6 is to ensure the availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all. The aim of this project is to provide tools, processes, and support for UN Member State governments to accelerate progress against SDG 6. The project integrates three (3) results areas to support this:

Evidence, based on rigorous data, is the lifeblood of decision-making, and good evidence is vital to effectively plan and prepare for the implementation of Sustainable Development Goals. To assist in this, UNU-INWEH is trialling the SDG Policy Support System (SDG PSS) for SDG 6 in five countries – Costa Rica, Ghana, Republic of Korea, Pakistan, and Tunisia. The SDG PSS brings together existing national data and automatically translates them into evidence; this evidence is then used to assess and monitor 6 critical components of sustainable SDG implementation: capacity, finance, policy & institutional strength, gender mainstreaming, risk reduction and resilience, and integrity. The SDG PSS produces easily referenced summaries to show decision-makers key gaps and strengths in these components, and to help them accelerate SDG 6 implementation through better decision- and policy-making. In 2017, the trial PSS is freely available online in English, French, Korean and Spanish. In 2018 the full version will be available in the same languages.

To help national governments improve SDG planning and policy, UNU-INWEH will conduct a comparative analysis of the development of water-related SDG policies in five countries over the first two years of the 2030 Agenda.

UNU-INWEH will extend the SDG Policy Support System beyond SDG 6 to the goals and targets of other water-related agreements. Additional products will include policy briefs and recommendations to advise and support national-level policy.

Manzoor QadirAssistant Director, Water and Human Development ProgrammeResearcher